What BlackBerry 10 Means for the Enterprise

Although the idea of having an enterprise app store is not new, the fact that BlackBerry has incorporated an app store into its new offerings makes the package deal of BB 10 (devices, management and distribution) even more appealing as a potential one-stop shop for all mobile needs. How does it work? The BlackBerry 10 Enterprise App Store will allow IT administrators to determine exactly what apps their enterprise users can download. Moreover, admins can receive apps made by developers and place them behind the firewall and within the organization's own enterprise app store, enabling the admin to serve as the middleman for app distribution. With this functionality, BlackBerry is staying loyal to CIOs and IT administrators by giving them full control and management of device apps.

It was not long ago that the word “smartphone” was synonymous with BlackBerry, especially in the enterprise market. Needless to say, the world changed with the introduction of the iPhone in 2007 and, in fact, neither the enterprise nor consumer smartphone markets have stopped evolving since.

In that time, companies such as Apple and Google have turned the enterprise world on its head by showing users innovative features and functionalities that they didn't even know they wanted. Ultimately, enterprise users began to demand that their organizations either provided or enabled iPhones and Androids with enterprise applications in order to perform their jobs. The result? Organizations have since given into the demand and are now increasingly looking for methods to secure and manage the plethora of devices that need to be supported. Thus the era of BYOD.

While many have questioned BlackBerry’s ability to compete in this new market, many now see the launch of BlackBerry 10 (BB 10) as a second chance for the company to capture back its enterprise users as well as keep its current users from defecting. After all, the core of BlackBerry's 80 million users has always been in the enterprise market. With the release of BB 10, the company is making its biggest and most significant push to date in providing a mobile experience that caters to both the enterprise and the consumer markets. Whether this launch will serve to be a game changer remains to be seen; however, there are plenty of reasons to believe that BB 10 will have a positive impact in the enterprise space. According to Dipesh Mukerji, senior director of product strategy & marketing, Kony Solutions, BlackBerry 10 will affect enterprise mobility in the following ways.

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